Like its northern neighbor,
wealth and power dominate Mexican politics. Elections are notoriously
tainted. Populist candidates are excluded. The late John Ross said Mexico
perfected the art of electoral theft.

Longstanding problems fester. For millions, they're unbearable. They
include extreme poverty, unemployment, underemployment, deep-seated
private and public corruption, drug-related crime and violence, and
political repression.

Beyond lip service, none of the candidates addressed them. Conditions
are worse now than years earlier.

On July 2, AP headlined "Mexican elections: PRI, former ruling party,
voted back into office," saying:

Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto
"promis(ed) a government that will be modern, responsible and open to
criticism."

A New York Times editorial headlined "Mexico Elects a New President,"
saying:

"Many voters clearly felt the need for change....Nieto has a chance
to restore his party's reputation and do a lot of good for Mexico if
he can deliver on his promises to make belated reforms, increase accountability
and end the bloodshed."

The Times gave Nieto op-ed space. He headlined "Mexico's Next Chapter,"
saying:

His campaign "was about....improv(ing) economic conditions for millions
of struggling Mexicans" and ending political polarization and paralysis.

He's committed to democracy, he said. Change no longer can be postponed,
he claimed.

Established in 1929, it emerged from the 1910 - 1917 Mexican Revolution.
During the Great Depression, class harmony and nationalist slogans co-opted
workers and campesinos. Class struggles were controlled.

Revolutionary change never came. Post-war strikes were brutally repressed.
In the 1980s, greater integration into global markets occurred. A new
billionaire class emerged.

Crisis conditions affected ordinary Mexicans. They still do. Farmers
and small businesses went bankrupt. NAFTA drove millions north. Drug
trafficking spawned violence. Thousands have been killed in recent years.

James Petras calls "narco-finance....the most advanced stage of neo-liberalism.
When the respectable become criminal, the criminals become respectable,"
he explains.

Like America, money power and imperial interests run Mexico. Ordinary
people are entirely left out. Each electoral cycle, everything changes
but stay the same. Nieto's election assures more of the same.

PRI leaders ran Mexico from 1929 - 2000. National Action Party (PAN)
candidate Vincente Fox ended its 70 year rule in 2000. Both parties
represent common interests. It hardly matters which one rules.

Mexican-style democracy reflects America's. Wealth and power run both
countries. Promised change won't come. Nieto's agenda reflects it. Neoliberalism's
death grip assures punishing hard times for ordinary people at a time
of protracted economic Depression.

Popular support for Nieto was unimpressive. With most returns counted,
Reuters said his margin was 37.6% over PRD's Obrador 32.2% and PAN candidate
Josefina Vazquez Mota's 25.4%.

New Alliance Party's (PANAL) Gabriel Quadri got 2.3%. Another 2.4% of
ballots were declared invalid. Turnout was about 62%.

From 2005 - 2011, Nieto served as State of Mexico governor. Critics
call him a product created by Mexico's TV giants. He's a proxy for the
country's biggest businesses and ruling elites.

"He's been imposed on us by powerful interests like the (corporate owned)
TV stations and old presidents," said biochemist Javier Aguilar. "How
can it be that a country this miserable is home to the world's richest
man."

He referred to business tycoon Carlos Slim. Other billionaires, major
banks, and corporate giants run Mexico. They replicate business interests
in America and other Western countries.

Other critics called PRI's return to power a major setback. University
students staged opposition marches in the final weeks of Nieto's campaign.
They expressed no faith in his promises.

He's also dogged by accusations that he overspent his $330 million campaign
funding limit and got favorable Mexican corporate media coverage.

Historian Andrew Paxman called Televisa "like Murdoch on steroids in
the sense (it) has operated under far fewer constraints...."

"The company's alleged use - abuse, say critics - of programming for
political and commercial ends has become an explosive issue in Sunday's
election."

"....Nieto, has been thrown on the defensive over evidence uncovered
by the Guardian detailing his links to Televisa, whose channels account
for about two thirds of free-to-air television. Its rival, Azteca, accounts
for most of the other third."

Concentrated television ownership threatens democracy, said former under-secretary
of communications Purificacion Carpinteyro. "It gives them enormous
power to extort....because nobody wants to be insulted or rubbed out
or (negatively) exhibited on TV."

WikiLeaks cables helped expose the corrupt Televisa/Nieto relationship.
One explained how the network gave him "extraordinary amounts of airtime
and other kinds of (favorable) coverage."

Televisa maintained close ties to PRI for decades. Like US television
giants, it supports wealth and power interests.

Voters also elected 300 Mexican lower house Chamber of Deputies members
and 168 senators. Governors were chosen in six states, and Mexico City
got a new mayor. PRI candidates appear to have won control of the nation's
Congress.

Fraud is endemic in Mexican politics. In 2006, vote totals were falsified
for current President Felipe Calderon. Millions of ballots weren't counted.
Around 900,000 were declared void, blank, annulled and discarded.

Mexico City mayor-elect Marcelo Ebrard said, "There is now so much evidence
of fraud that the court will have to act." Nothing followed. Calderon
took office.

He acknowledged Nieto's victory. He and Obama congratulated him. A White
House Office of the Press Secretary release said:

"Today the President called Enrique Peña Nieto, President-elect
of Mexico, to congratulate him on his victory based on the initial results
issued by Mexico’s electoral authorities."

"The two leaders reaffirmed the close bilateral partnership the United
States and Mexico enjoy based on mutual respect, shared responsibility,
and the deep connections between our people."

"The President reiterated his commitment to working in partnership with
Mexico, and looks forward to advancing common goals, including promoting
democracy, economic prosperity, and security in the region and around
the globe, in the coming years."

"The President also congratulated the Mexican people who have once again
demonstrated their commitment to democratic values through a free, fair,
and transparent election process."</blockquote>

Obama acknowledged that Mexico is safe in his hands. Money power keeps
control. The worst of what harms ordinary Mexicans will continue. Dire
economic conditions assures hard times getting harder.

Mexico's history reflects revolutionary outbursts every 100 years or
so. In 1810 and 1910 they erupted. Perhaps another is due any time.

In 1910, Francisco Madero triggered what Emiliano Zapata Salazar led.
His supporters were called Zapatistas.

Mexicans wondered if Subcommandante Marcos was his modern incarnation.
Their hopes remain unfulfilled. Indigenous struggles continue. Beneficial
social change is long overdue.

The only solution is world revolution. The best way to beat organized
money is with organized people. Famed Chicago community organizer Saul
Alinsky (1909 - 1972) explained.

There is no other way. Throwing the bums out for more of the same fails
every time.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News
Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time
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